Breakingviews: Barack the cable guy

Rob Cyran and Breakingviews editors discuss the repercussions for Comcast and peers of President Obama using the bully pulpit to urge regulators to reclassify the internet as a utility.

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The cable industry just came off a quarter rare realize it's gonna have to rethink its business model little bit. With with TV content producers decide you're gonna start selling directly to customers use the Internet. Now president Barack Obama has even gone over the top he is now urging the FCC. Two to regulate broadband as a utility and so much changing so quickly for this industry yet. That'd be good cable companies they they were OK with taking the over the top and assume it wasn't created they prefer to sell these things directly to customers in and replace a big party and HBO of course it's PO without any value in a seat on that Uga Tennessee can use of the cable company. The different the problem is that most Americans almost all Americans get their cable via all the broadband via cable under no other providers and saw Comcast was OK you don't wanna buy TV from us that's viable final there's a larger and more for Internet exactly what you would get our money either way. Now Obama saying okay we're gonna regulate these cable company the broadband providers as Telecom monopolies essentially. And what that means he's he's he's big being very limited he's saying they only do they can't do certain things for instance you can't charge Netflix more to carry their content verse and I think. You can't block someone just because you don't like them the right thing like I am AT&T has their own service but we're we want our customers to use that bread and other companies they can't use that. He said so far we don't want any price regulation of the words came they're not gonna really utilities and step and say okay king you can only raised sort of 50% admired not going to be any of that so far left remember rob I mean it. As the Ecstasy and Obama as president what he says obviously Madden but the FCC is an independent regulator. It makes its own rules for years it was tried to enforce this net neutrality through the regulations thing. Can't this committee and its contents can't you know move things faster or slower. Federal court overturned that and look you don't have the power if you wanted to do that kind of regulation. You've got to declare this utility so it's been tried. Form this compromise it is it is a table would let that maneuver here really knows how policy not just saying yeah I mean it you know the FCC it's got to Republican commissioners three democratic commissioners has got this guy Tom Wheeler who's the chairman who's who's a very. Politician he's trying to strike a compromise. Trying not to annoy congress too much does that factor in it and you know here's Obama to sort of blowing the whole thing got all. It's is this is not necessarily obviously is would you say it's not policy yet but we've obviously the cable stocks that you are saying. Its market becomes margin compression media won't tell you law over the long run because you have to think that. As it right now there's only for a lot of customers most customers is only one drug and provider if they want to charge more. Sorry I'm gonna pay out because I don't have a choice and you broadbent her you know effort for somebody that ultimately we Victor rates will I mean that's not right now you're saying. We're not gonna talk we're not part of our rates just yet but once your classified as utility and then then they're inevitable yet and then I think that's probably gonna happen over the long and could you think about it voters care about these kinds of issues if cable companies can of course keep on going up. Eight Republicans right now they're gonna back to cable companies because you know to get a lot of money from these industry right. Over the long run if voters get back annoying day rising prices it becomes more preferable for the Republicans say OK we mean we kind of acknowledged there has to be some sort of regulation on the prices. As Democrats certainly do that terrible as a big breaking story we'll leave it there and we got more reviews tomorrow.

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